


Hardest Conversation Ever, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Children, F/M, Family, First Time, Friendship, Post Bartlett Administration, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-05
Updated: 2008-08-05
Packaged: 2019-05-30 11:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15095891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Abbey has a confession to make, and it's going to make Danny's blood boil.





	Hardest Conversation Ever, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

She had gone over it numerous times in her mind and eventually  
came to the conclusion that she had no alternative. If she didn't tell  
her mother, it would mean further problems down the road. And her  
parents had always insisted on honesty, claiming that any consequences  
she might have to suffer for her indiscretions would be far less than  
the consequences she would suffer if they found out she was dishonest  
or withholding of information. Not only that, but she's bursting with  
a crazy concoction of emotions and needs desperately to discuss it. So  
Abbey's just about to put down the homework she can't concentrate on  
and seek out her mom when there's a knock on her bedroom door. "Come  
in," she calls out as she sits up on her bed.

CJ pokes her head in the doorway and smiles weakly. "Kay, I  
managed to get the stain out of your pink blouse. You know, you're  
gonna be in college come September. You need to learn how to do this  
kind of stuff for yourself." CJ hands Abbey the blouse. Of course the  
kids can do their own laundry and they're pretty good at cooking basic  
meals, but there's still a lot they need to learn before they move out.

"I thought I'd just bring any stained clothes back home. After  
all, I'm sure Dad will insist I come home at least once a month, no  
matter where I choose to go to school." She cracks a grin.

"Don't forget to e-mail," CJ jests as she turns around to walk  
back into the hall.

"Mom?" Abbey straightens up, a look of discomfort plaguing her  
features. "Can we talk?"

Pausing for a second, CJ nods. " Sure, honey. What's up?" She can  
sense something is troubling her daughter and is slightly nervous. She  
perches on the edge of the bed and gives Abbey her undivided attention.

"Well…"Abbey sucks in a big gulp of air. Better to just get it  
over with. "You know how you always said that if I was gonna have sex  
then it would be better to do it safely? Well, I wanna go on the pill."

CJ's jaw drops slightly and her eyes widen. "You and Noah are  
thinking about having sex?"

Abbey averts her eyes to the bed. " No."

"No?" CJ shakes her head, obviously confused.

"No. We've already…" Abbey blushes and twists a loose curl  
around her finger.

"Oh, dear God." CJ inhales sharply. She forces herself to take a  
couple calming breaths. Of course this day was inevitable. "When?"

Grimacing, Abbey divulges the whole story. "Last night, when you  
and Dad and Josh and Donna were in San Francisco for the Hollis  
Foundation…"

"Abbey! You and PJ were supposed to be home by eleven." CJ  
narrows her eyes. It isn't like the kids to disobey her or Danny's orders.

"We stayed at the Lyman's," Abbey admits painfully. "PJ slept in  
the den on the couch after he and Davy came home from Mitch and Alexia's."

Exhaling deeply, CJ shakes her head. "Abbey, you disobeyed us. We  
trusted all of you to be alone for a weekend by yourselves. You asked  
for more responsibility and we gave it to you."

Guilt is written all over Abbey's face and her countenance exudes  
it. "I know, Mom, I'm sorry. But we couldn't wait any longer. We've  
been together for almost three and a half years."

"Okay, okay. Setting this aside for a minute, but rest assured  
we're gonna come back to this topic later, tell me you were safe." CJ  
stares into Abbey's eyes.

Nodding lightly, Abbey reassures her mother. " Of course."

"And he was good to you? He didn't force you?" She's trying to  
put aside the idea that her daughter went against their wishes and  
just focus on her physical and emotional health.

Abbey raises her brows. "Mom, of course not. We made this  
decision together. The time was right; we were so ready."

Sighing involuntarily, CJ nods. She has to try to be cool about  
this. "Okay, that's the main thing, then. And I'm glad you came to me.  
But I can't condone this. If we put you on birth control then you're  
gonna think you have free rein to do whatever you want."

"That's not true, Mom. Besides, didn't we show good judgment by  
waiting until we were sure we're in love and going to be together  
forever? Isn't it responsible that we want to be safe? Plus, I coulda  
just gone to the doctor and got the pill myself. I did all the right  
things we've talked about." Abbey's face falls.

Nodding, CJ has to give her that. "You're right. But this doesn't  
mean I agree with it. Your bedroom is still off-limits and we still  
have to know when Noah's over. But, I guess I'll call my gynecologist  
tomorrow and get you an appointment." This isn't an easy decision for  
her to make. She doesn't want to encourage her teenage daughter to  
have sex, but at the same time she has to acknowledge that Abbey and  
Noah were responsible and the best thing to do would be to get Abbey  
on birth control.

Abbey nods soundly. "Thank you. We really did wait a long time.  
You know how many of our friends just jumped into bed after only  
dating for a month or two?"

"I certainly hope you didn't do it to impress your friends." CJ's  
tone is warning.

"No way! This was only about us." Abbey is surprised her mom  
would even ask that. Does she not realize how much she and Noah have  
resisted peer pressure during their high school years?

"Good. You know I'm just concerned for you? I don't wanna see you  
hurt or forced into a situation you're not ready for. I just want  
what's best for you." CJ squeezes Abbey's hand, needing her daughter  
to realize that she's only looking out for her best interests.

Abbey smiles softly. " I know, Mom. But Noah would never hurt  
me. And we're mature enough to handle it. We've been discussing it for  
a long time."

"All right, sweetheart. We better go talk to your father." CJ  
moves off the bed.

Abbey visually panics. "We can't tell him! He'll threaten to  
murder Noah and then we'll have to do a murder-suicide thing Romeo and  
Juliet style!"

CJ can't stifle a grin. "Honey, Dad loves Noah like his own son."

"I don't think he's gonna like the fact that he's sleeping with  
me." Abbey's eyes are practically begging CJ to understand.

CJ smiles lightly and nods twice. "You're right about that. But  
you can't expect me to keep this from him. We're both parents equally  
and it isn't fair for me to hide this from him." CJ honestly doesn't  
believe she'd last two minutes in a room with her husband without  
blurting out the news. CJ and Danny just don't keep secrets.

Rolling her eyes, Abbey huffs. " Yeah, okay. But promise you'll  
calm him down. He's gonna have a nutty."

"Don't worry, I won't let him get carried away." CJ's used to  
this routine. Whenever Abbey's in trouble she runs to CJ and seeks her  
help to break the news to Danny. Abbey loves her father too much to  
keep the important things in her life from him, but she usually  
requires CJ's moral support and ability to anchor her father's temper.  
* * *  
As per CJ's suggestion, she and Abbey go downstairs to the  
kitchen and prepare tea. They know Danny's in the den watching hockey  
and going over his lecture notes for the next day, so they take the  
tea in the den and Abbey sits on the couch adjacent to the couch Danny  
is seated on.

"Hey, ladies," Danny greets, scribbling in the margin of the  
paper in his hand.

"We made tea." CJ sits next to her husband and hands him a mug.

"Thanks. I'm just about done here, anyway. You wanna watch  
something on T.V., baby?" Danny turns to Abbey, assuming she had come  
to watch a show. The kids have small T.V.s and DVD players in their  
room (Christmas gifts from a few weeks ago), but no cable or  
satellite. CJ and Danny hadn't wanted the kids to automatically  
disappear to their rooms when they weren't engaged at school, work or  
extra-curriculars. The little amount of time the busy family has  
together should be spent as a family.

Abbey shakes her head vigorously. She can already feel her face  
flush and heart rate speed up. This is possibly the hardest  
conversation she's ever had with her dad.

"Abbey wants to talk," CJ informs Danny, sipping her tea with one  
hand and holding Danny's hand with the other.

"A-kay. What's on your mind?" Danny can sense this impending  
conversation will be surprising.

With a quick glance at CJ, Abbey sucks in a gulp of air and  
begins quickly. "I wanna go on the pill because Noah and I are having  
sex."

Danny's eyes dilate and he blinks rapidly. His breathing becomes  
more rapid and his heart speeds up. This, he imagines, is what a heart  
attack feels like. "Oh my God!" For a few seconds, he is speechless.  
This couldn't be his little girl, the one he had tucked into bed and  
nursed back to health when she was sick. This couldn't be his little  
girl who used to call him her hero.

"Daddy," Abbey tries to expand.

"No, no, no, no…no! This can't be true. You're only sixteen.  
You're still in high school. You're supposed to wait. Or, a more  
preferable option would be for you to join a convent. No, this is  
ludicrous. You're just a kid." Danny's practically shouting and he's  
shaking his head maniacally.

"Dad, I'm not a kid. I'll be seventeen in two weeks and I'm  
graduating high school in June. Why don't you ever treat me like an  
adult?" Abbey is close to tears. She knew this would happen. Her dad  
can't accept that she's not completely dependent on him anymore.

"How am I supposed to treat you like an adult when you do such an  
immature thing? You should have talked to us first and waited til you  
were married and…and talked to us first." Danny rubs the sweat at his  
temple as he paces between the two couches. This is just too much.

CJ feels the need to interject for Abbey's defense. "She was very  
mature about it, Danny. They were safe and they waited three and half  
years since they started dating. It's not something they just rushed  
into for fun. They talked about it and made the decision together."  
She has to give her daughter credit; she wasn't immature.

"How did this happen anyway? You and Noah are only allowed to be  
alone when you're downstairs and we're in the house." Danny is trying  
to imagine how this could happen. They, along with Josh and Donna, had  
taken measures to avoid encouraging the kids.

 

Abbey, lips trembling, glances at CJ before lowering her gaze.  
"When you guys were in San Francisco. We stayed at Noah's."

Danny rolls his eyes dramatically. "Oh, oh, great. This is just  
wonderful. You asked us to trust you, Abbey. We wanted to have Nana or  
Aunt Megan come and stay with you, but you guys wanted to show you  
could manage the house by yourselves. This is how you repay us for  
trusting you? You've deliberately disobeyed us. We said you and Noah  
could see each other til eleven if PJ or Ella or Davy were in the  
house with you, and then you had to return to your own house at night."

"I know. We disobeyed you. I'm so sorry," Abbey sobs, hot tears  
pooling in her eyes and dribbling down her cheeks. She's so ashamed.

Danny stops his pacing and fingers his bottom lip. " Well sorry's  
not gonna cut it, Abigail. Go upstairs now. Until further notice,  
you're only allowed out for meals and school. And don't even think  
about taking your cell phone ;leave it on the table. No phones,  
computer or T.V. You'll go to school and work and come home. No  
gymnastics or basketball, either."

Abbey slowly steps forward, takes her phone from the pocket of  
her jeans and sets it on the coffee table. Still crying, she rushes  
out of the room and upstairs.

CJ stands up and grasps Danny's arm, her eyes blazing with anger.  
" How could you do that? When do we ever dish out punishment  
unilaterally? We're supposed to be a united front, Danny.

 

Danny's brows rise. "You don't agree with what I did? She stayed  
over night at her boyfriend's house, deliberately disobeying our  
instructions. She has to be punished."

"Of course she does. But your approach was completely out of  
order. We should have sat down and discussed how to handle this.  
Danny, don't you realize how difficult this was for her? She was,  
rightly so, scared to tell you what happened. And on top of all these  
new emotions she must be experiencing, you've completely undermined  
her confidence and unfairly sentenced her to isolation. Don't get me  
wrong, I'm not impressed that they chose to have sex, but God, Danny,  
they did everything right. Your first response should have been to  
make sure she was safe and treated properly. Those are the important  
things. She's a good kid and you treated her without respect."

"But she didn't respect us or our rules," Danny protests.

"And she'll have to pay the consequences for that. But there's a  
way for her to learn that lesson without insulting her. She didn't  
exercise the best judgment by ignoring our rules, but she's always  
been a considerate person and we have to consider the mitigating  
circumstances. They waited three and half years." CJ is slightly  
surprised to be defending her daughter, but does sympathize with Abbey  
for Danny's handling of the situation.

"We waited eight," Danny argues pointedly.

CJ laughs out loud. " Danny, we weren't together for eight years  
before we had sex. In fact, we had sex before we even made our  
relationship official. I think you've found the world's weakest  
argument. And think about the circumstances. They're in a loving,  
committed relationship. They swear they're gonna stay together.  
They're young and under a lot of pressure from the media and their  
friends to have sex. But they waited until they were certain they were  
ready and they were very responsible. Danny, admit it; this isn't  
about her and Noah. This is you, once again, having a difficult time  
dealing with her growing up. "

Danny nods and sits down, suddenly incredibly weary. "I just  
think she's too young to be dealing with all this. When did you lose  
your virginity?"

"I was eighteen," CJ relays, perching on the arm of the couch and  
taking Danny's hand. "But age doesn't matter. Circumstances matter,  
and they really did everything properly."

Sighing deeply, Danny runs both hands through his thinning hair.  
"Sometimes I still see her as that chatty little girl who couldn't get  
enough bed time stories and cuddle time. I still remember how proud we  
were when she was born. The first time she opened those big blue eyes,  
I knew my life would be changed forever. There wasn't a thing I  
wouldn't do to protect her. When we almost lost her to cancer, I  
prayed every night to God to not take this angel from us and I would  
be the most devoted father in the world to my children. But I guess at  
some point, I've gotta relinquish that desire to keep her close under  
our watch and let her spread her wings and soar."

CJ smiles softly. "Sending her to private school, encouraging her  
to pursue her interests and speak her opinion…we did all that so she  
would grow up to be an intelligent, self-sufficient young woman who  
had the tools for success in whatever she chose to do. We didn't raise  
her for seventeen years to have her sit around our house forever. In  
September she's gonna go to college and begin what will most likely be  
a great career. Our job as parents will never really be over, but  
we've done a pretty good job raising our kids. They're good kids,  
welcoming neighbours, conscious citizens and respectful children. This  
is really the only time they've seriously countered us. I think we can  
afford to go easy on her."

"Whadda ya wanna do?" Danny asks, a look of helplessness in his  
eyes. He's seriously regretting the way he handled Abbey's behaviour.

CJ sighs and considers everything. "She's gonna have to suffer  
through a grounding for disobeying our orders. But you're gonna go  
upstairs and make clear to her that you're not punishing her for  
having sex, but for going against us. And we're not gonna be leaving  
the kids alone for a weekend for a while, so she'll have to understand  
that it'll take time to rebuild our trust. But, Danny, make sure that  
you tell her how much you love her and that you appreciate her honesty  
and how she handled herself. I think you've really hurt her feelings  
by not supporting her in this new phase of her life."

Standing up, Danny nods in agreement. "All right, but I'm also  
gonna make sure she knows that I'm not impressed with this."

"Okay. Go." CJ gives Danny a gentle shove that sends Danny  
dragging himself up the stairs.

He raps lightly on Abbey's door and when he can hear a muffled  
"Yeah?" coming from inside, he opens the door slightly. Abbey is lying  
face down on the bed, her blotchy face buried in a pillow and the worn  
lion toy Noah had given her for her sixth birthday.

"We need to finish this talk," Danny tells her, perching on the  
side of the bed with light pink and green sheets and a comforter.  
"Come here." Danny rubs Abbey's shoulder until she sits up and he can  
draw her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

"No," Abbey blurts honestly.

"I may have over-reacted," Danny admits, releasing his daughter  
and holding her wrists gently in his hands.

"Yeah," Abbey sighs, her eyes dropping to look at the bed.

"You used protection?" Danny remembers CJ's argument. The most  
important thing was that she was safe.

Abbey nods and lifts her gaze up to her father's. "That's the  
most important thing, and that he treated you well. I should have  
said that first. But, God, Abbey, you caught me off guard. It's not  
like you to go against what we say."

"I know, Daddy, and I really am sorry about that." Abbey reaches  
to swipe at the tears drying on her cheeks.

"All right. Because you went against our wishes, you're gonna be  
grounded for two weeks, and don't think you'll be left alone on the  
weekends anymore. It'll take a while for you to convince your mother  
and I that you're worthy of our trust. But, I'm glad you had the  
courage to tell us. That shows maturity. You know we never try to be  
mean or unfair. We only want what's best for you." Danny continues to  
rub Abbey's hands in his own.

Nodding soundly, Abbey exhales deeply. "I know. But you need to  
see that I'm pretty capable of deciding what's best for me. I'm always  
gonna want your advice, but I'm old enough to be looking out for  
myself. Dad, do you honestly think I'd have sex if I didn't think that  
I was ready?"

Danny sighs loudly. " Okay. You can go on the pill because I  
don't want to have to worry about you. But I'm certainly not thrilled  
about the idea, and don't think this means that that we agree with this."

"I know. And thanks." Abbey is exhausted. It had been an  
emotional rollercoaster of a weekend.

"All right, give me a hug and get back to your homework." Danny  
accepts the arms Abbey wraps around him. He reaches up to run a hand  
through her mess of red curls and smiles. "It's just hard for me to  
see you growing into a young woman. But,I am proud of you and will  
always love you, baby."

"I love you, too, Daddy." Abbey's face registers relief. She  
knows she's disappointed her father (something she's always strived to  
avoid), but even though he's disappointed and upset with her, she also  
knows he will never stop loving her.

The End

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